


coffee hours

by fated_addiction



Category: K-pop, Korean Actor RPF, Real Person Fiction, SM Entertainment | SMTown, So Nyuh Shi Dae | Girls' Generation, 소녀시대 | Girls' Generation | SNSD
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, F/F, Fluff, Romance, shameless fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-10
Updated: 2015-10-10
Packaged: 2018-04-25 16:41:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4968451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fated_addiction/pseuds/fated_addiction
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Six months is a milestone.</i>
</p><p>Taeyeon tries to date without calling it dating. Naturally, no one is impressed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	coffee hours

**Author's Note:**

> Someone asked for 'girlfriends: the sequel' and so I decided, why the hell not? Coupled with the fact that Taeyeon's EP just came out and regardless of the fact that it's being called R&B/Ballad/Whatever, let's be real -- she's totally going to come out and front her own Indie Rock band soon.
> 
> Anyways. This is a side story/sequel to [coming after me](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4947430). Because I love AUs and love neighbor AUs just as much as I love Cop AUs.

Six months is a milestone. "So is brunch," Sooyoung mildly points out, pushing a Bloody Mary to Tiffany. "And so is the fact that Tae-Tae hasn't used her songs as an excuse to never see this girl ever again."

"It's a little awkward when you're neighbors," Tiffany teases too, adjusting her sunglasses. 

Brunch is a tradition that goes back to when they were in high school, fledging as trainees, pseudo modeling jobs, and, in Taeyeon's case, notebooks after notebooks of sad, sharp love songs. The difference is that they're old enough for Bloody Marys now, casual and cool breakups, and the most expensive place ever, since Tiffany is paying to celebrate another album success.

"I don't want to talk about it," Taeyeon finally says, her blush sinking into her face. She tries not to think about this morning, just before Sooyeon left for work. Instead, she sinks into the sweater that is _so_ not hers and smells a lot like the blankets on Sooyeon's bed, soft, sharp, and clean. "You can't make me," she says too.

Tiffany laughs. She leans into her hand. "You look happy," she reasons. Her mouth curls and she shakes her head. "And I like it -- does this mean I'll get a pop song out of you at some point?"

Taeyeon's eyes narrow. Sooyoung snorts. "We have to officially meet her first," the other woman says. "All I know is that she lives down the hall and Tae and her had sex on our kitchen table."

"Oh my god." Taeyeon's face is red now. Her hands clap against her cheeks and she sinks into her chair, groaning. " _Yah_. Oh my god!"

Tiffany is dying of laughter, flinging a piece of bacon at Sooyoung. In turn, Sooyoung merely flashes a smirk and a victory sign, picking the piece of bacon that Tiffany threw at her and eating it.

"It's been six months," Sooyoung adds.

Tiffany makes a sound of surprise, looking back over at her. "And we haven't even met her yet," she murmurs.

The thing is: they have been friends long enough to know each other's habits, between breakups and lovers and everything in between. Taeyeon is not the one, in their small group, that has relationships, is better suited to being married to her songs and work with long standing relationship with trying to figure herself out in between. 

Then there is Sooyeon. Next to her silverware, her phone lights up and on the screen it reads The Really Pretty Doctor. A soft smile shifts onto her mouth and she squirms, sighing.

Taeyeon looks away, embarrassed. "I know," she says.

This is where the problem starts.

 

 

 

 

 

It eats away at her, you know. The fact that it's been six months, six _actual_ months, and neither of them have gone beyond the safety of their apartments, Sooyeon cooking for her, and kind of, sort of catching up about where they have been since middle school.

But then there's real life too.

The news happens so quickly, strangely enough she breaks it out, over breakfast, when Sooyeon is pouring coffee for them both and wearing one of her t-shirts.

"I'm going to release my own album," she blurts out, shy. Sooyeon turns, wide-eyed. Taeyeon groans, dropping her face in her hands. "Well," she mumbles. "More like an EP ... just to test the waters."

Sooyeon just gets this look though. It's slow and subtle at first, but then completely transforms her face in a way that Taeyeon has never seen before. There's a little bit of pride. Then it's the slight, slow turn of her mouth, corning into a smile that does something to Taeyeon's stomach. It's knots. It's butterflies. It's everything else in between. 

She puts her coffee down though, steps around the kitchen counter and moves to stand between Taeyeon's legs. Her fingers brush her hair out of her eyes. Taeyeon's knee hits the table, but she ignores it and curls her hands in Sooyeon's t-shirt.

"I'm scared," she admits.

Sooyeon laughs softly. "You're crazy," she says. Her eyes are bright. "You're going to be amazing, you know."

"I don't know about amazing," Taeyeon says. "I'll work really hard though."

Sooyeon drops her mouth into hers and kisses her, like really kisses her, in that stupid, shy way that makes Taeyeon think of a million reasons why she should bite the bullet and be like "let's move in together!" because there's breakfast, t-shirts, and late nights and sitting at her piano; it's all things they do anyway, even though they are separated by a hallway, in theory, but six months is more than just a milestone anyway.

Instead, she's like: "I'm going to be an even bigger idiot with my time."

Sooyeon snorts, then shifts, dropping into her lap. Breakfast is forgotten and Taeyeon slides a hand into her hair.

"It's fine," Sooyeon tells her. Her mouth curls in amusement. "You're not the only one with a wacky schedule, you know."

"I know." Taeyeon huffs, struggling for the right words. "It's just..." she waves her hand around and then returns it back to Sooyeon's hair, pulling at a few strands. "I'm not good at _this_ ," she says awkwardly. "I'm not good at dates and holding hands and being there. I can write songs about it, but --"

Sooyeon laughs.

She doubles over, just slightly, giggling as Taeyeon remains bewildered. It's the first time she's heard Sooyeon laugh like this though; it's bright, it makes her a thousand years younger, and opens her face in a way she hasn't seen before. It's bewildering and confusing and she doesn't know how to look away.

"Yah," Sooyeon breathes. "No one's asking you to be perfect," she says. She shakes her head too. "Lord knows, I'm the worst at a lot more than you are. I sleep too much. I work too much. I curse like a sailor too, I guess. You'd have to ask my sister about that one though. The point is that the only thing I'll ever ask of you, Taeyeon-ah, is that you're honest with me. That's it. The rest... well. We'll figure that out together."

Taeyeon is red again, by the time she's finished, and gets this dopey look on her face because oh _god_ and how is this girl real, if anything but.

She manages to lean in, cup Sooyeon's face and kiss her, just kiss her.

"Just don't write a song about me," Sooyeon says, laughing.

Taeyeon can't make any promises, of course.

 

 

 

 

 

The thing about writing an indie album is that no one tells you how ridiculous writing an indie album is going to be. Taeyeon is a bit of a legend in the industry, half a recluse, the rest a standing child prodigy. Unlike Tiffany, she had no interest in the idol system; there was something inexplicably intimidating about it and the idea of being a part of a well oiled machine, without even having some kind of leg room to move and create, it scared her. So like everything else in her life, she took the hard route. She learned scores and notes and production studios; a lot of it was grunt work, but there was nothing like the first time one of her songs got picked up or that time where she got to tell a group that singing _this_ song had to come with actual feelings and not a process.

It takes two months to put a band together. Her company tries to get involved, but Taeyeon makes a lot of money for them and has a certain vision in mind. The end result: a strange mix of her friends and people she's worked with before; Yubin gleefully agrees to drums; they both get Jun.K drunk over fried chicken and convince him to pick up base again; Jongdae and Solar are the easiest, mostly because Solar is bored and Jongdae likes projects. 

The songs are already written. It takes two weeks after that, a lot of super late nights in the studio, laughing and fighting and breaking through notes to finally put together a six song EP and be really, really proud of it.

It's the second most terrifying thing she's ever done.

The first --

 

 

 

"I'm going to step outside for a second," she tells Yubin. The other woman waves her off; Taeyeon steps out of the restaurant, half-drunk and wrinkling her nose. Her jacket smells like fried food and she hates it.

Fumbling with her phone, she finds THE REALLY PRETTY DOCTOR and presses _send_ because she finds herself realizing that she hasn't talk to Sooyeon in weeks and it really, really sucks.

Part of it is work, a larger part of it is that she went to Los Angeles to visit her parents with her little sister who, apparently, is studying to be a doctor too. That was still a week ago though and they didn't talk. Taeyeon was so busy with everything and it felt like she was intruding on Sooyeon's time, if anything but. It's also something that Taeyeon finds stupidly intimidating; how the hell is she supposed to impress these people, you know?

Sooyeon picks up on the third ring and sounds exhausted. "Hi."

Taeyeon's heart is in her throat. "Hi," she echoes. Her feet shuffle into the sidewalk. "I'm drunk," she announces.

"Late night?" 

"No," Taeyeon mumbles, rubbing her eyes. "Just rehearsals and stuff, you know. And then celebrating. Yubin brought us to her parents' restaurant and Solar brought her girlfriend along -- she's really, really awesome and stuff. She sings too!'

"Ah," Sooyeon murmurs. "That's nice."

Taeyeon moves herself out of view from the rest of her band, leaning against the wall and shoving a hand into her pocket. It's a little brisk outside and she wishes she wore something warmer.

"I wish you were here," she finally says.

There's a pause. It would be easier to do this if they lived together, but Taeyeon doesn't really know what that would be like. They are always going home to their own spaces; she never asks Sooyeon to stay either. Sooyeon, on the other hand, does. She makes breakfast. They talk about their days if it's late. Sometimes, the best part of it all is when Sooyeon's head is in her lap and she's reading some stupidly, obnoxiously long medical journal and the music shows are on and her fingers are in her hair and it's the best kind of nothing, quiet and personal and the kind of moment that Taeyeon doesn't want to give to anyone else.

She listens to Sooyeon sigh. "You didn't invite me," she says. "And you're drunk, Taeyeon-ah. I don't think this is the conversation to have..."

"Why?" she blurts and her foot connects with the wall. She squeezes her eyes shut. "I'm a lot more honest, you know? Ask me anything! I missed you when you went to the States to see your parents."

Instead of hearing some kind of change in her voice, there's just another sigh and she sounds so tired, Taeyeon thinks. She's good at voices, you know, even better when she's picking apart Sooyeon's; the different pitches and tones make all her moods brighter and insanely sharp, and shape her together.

"You shouldn't have to drink to be honest, Taeyeon." Sooyeon coughs a little and something shuts. "Look," she says too. "I have a long night and if this is something you want to talk about, we can have breakfast in the morning at a cafe."

"I can't. I have meetings. We have a show at night too so I couldn't do breakfast at night or whatever. And I have a girls' lunch --"

"Taeyeon."

Sooyeon's voice is steady. It's heavy too; there's something shifting in the quality. She feels louder, firmer and something in Taeyeon's stomach begins to sink.

"I'm happy for you," Sooyeon says. "And I did miss you. I'm happy that you're doing something that you have been wanting to do forever -- it's important. But ..." Sooyeon exhales and her voice trembles. "I feel like I'm always making time for you. I feel like I'm the one sitting by the phone, waiting for you to call and tell me about your day. I didn't hear from you when I went to LA. I just --" 

"Sooyeon," she starts. "Yah --"

"No," Sooyeon interrupts. "I won't have a relationship because it's convenient. If I have to show up, so do you."

Taeyeon hates that she can't see her face. The conversation in her kitchen -- actually, she tells herself, there were multiple where she told Sooyeon _i'm not good at this_ and all Sooyeon said was _be honest_ and there are million more points, ideas, and thoughts, smiles and oh god, she thinks, _ohgod_ are they breaking up? Were they even together?

It's then that the alcohol really hits, pulls at her head and she really go inside, back to the others because they're not Sooyoung or Tiffany and they don't get that while Taeyeon can write an insanely solid love song, she is so not even kind of good at being love with someone else.

"Wait," she starts quietly.

Sooyeon sighs. "I have to go. I'm due in the emergency room."

Taeyeon doesn't wait for a goodbye. She hangs up first and fists over her phone, pulling it to her face and telling herself to get it together, idiot, _get it together_. She wants to call back. She wants to sober up, show up at the hospital and wait until Sooyeon gets off so that they can go home and she can drag her to bed and say that she was the idiot. The problem is that they haven't had the conversation. There hasn't been _we_ and _us_ in anything that they've said to each other. 

This is an actual fight.

 

 

 

 

 

It takes a week -- they haven't talked in a _week_ \-- for Sooyoung to finally sigh, throw her notebook into the wall, grab her hand and keys and say, "This is an intervention, we're taking you to the hospital! Tiffany's waiting in the car for us outside."

Taeyeon is bewildered enough to let herself be pulled out of the apartment, the first time she's been home longer than four hours and not sleeping. It's been a weird, disjointed week where she's done nothing but look longingly at Sooyeon's apartment door, fight Sooyoung off from using the mug that Sooyeon used the last time she spent the night, and find pieces of clothing _everyfuckingwhere_ that don't belong to her and smell suspiciously familiar. The point is simple; this sucks.

In the car, Tiffany hands her bag and a coffee and grins widely behind a pair of stupidly large sunglasses.

"Listen," she tells Taeyeon. "You are going to say you're sorry, right or wrong or whatever. You're to fix it."

"Okay," she says dumbly.

Sooyoung gets into the passenger seat next to Tiffany and fiddles with the radio while Tiffany drives. "And then you're going to move into her place or move into our place -- turn my bedroom into a study or whatever."

Taeyeon blinks. "Wait. _What_?"

Sooyoung shrugs. "I wanted to tell you after de-moping you. I'm moving in with Minho. Because apparently, that's what you do when you've been dating for five years."

"I love weddings," Tiffany says, grinning maniacally. Sooyoung snorts; Taeyeon's head is swimming, but she's smiling anyway. Tiffany continues though: "So there. You need to fix it so that Sooyoung can move in and live happily ever after with her boy toy --"

"Not my boy toy," Sooyoung smacks Tiffany's arm. "And we're not getting married."

"So you _say_ ," Tiffany things.

Taeyeon's head is spinning and yeah, of course, she's thrilled for Sooyoung. This has been a long time coming, but there's more the impending reality that follows.

It hits her a little harder when the hospital suddenly appears and she tries to come to terms with the fact that it's only felt like ten minutes in the car. Tiffany parks and both of her best friends drag her out of the car, by the arms as she reluctantly reveals where she remembers Sooyeon's office to be and the times she's been to the hospital to see her.

"This creeps me out," Sooyoung mutters, gripping Taeyeon's arm. They take a wrong turn down the hallway and spill into the waiting room for the Emergency Room. The nurse at the window recognizes Taeyeon though, waves her through, and she leads the girls into another, smaller hallway.

It's eerie as anything.

There's a strange cacophony to the floor, between the beeping of the machines in the rooms that they pass; the sounds of conversation, tear-ridden, mixed into doctors doing their job. There's scream and Tiffany jumps next to her, squeezing her hand too.

 _Some days are better than other_ , Sooyeon says in her head. 

"I don't know how she does this," Taeyeon says finally and they find Sooyeon's office, just outside another entrance to the emergency area. "I would lose my mind," she says. "She never talks about it. I've seen -- I can't describe it. She barely flinches."

"You're not making any sense," Tiffany tells her.

"She does that a lot, huh?"

The three of them whirl around and Sooyeon is standing behind them, coffee in hand, her hair pulled back into a messy top knot, and glasses sliding down her nose. The look on her face is a mix of confusion and surprise, and when her gaze settles on Taeyeon, there's something else, something that Taeyeon can't quite figure out. But she's selfish though and feels herself begin to settle, breathing as she takes Sooyeon for what feels like the first time.

"Hi," Taeyeon hears herself say.

Sooyeon's mouth curls slightly. "Hey."

"Eonni," Sooyoung greets next to her. Tiffany follows in kind, offering her hand for a formal greeting too.

"You're really pretty," Tiffany adds.

Sooyeon laughs a little. "I don't feel like I am," she replies. She pushes her glasses into her hair, rubbing her eyes. "But thank you? It's nice to hear."

"No problem," Tiffany says, then pushes Taeyeon forward with a grin. "We figured since we didn't see you at the show that you and Taeyeon were fighting, or Taeyeon didn't talk about her feelings -- she's not really good at feelings, but I'm sure you already know that. Anyway. She's been a dope since you went to the States and then Sooyoung said you had a fight --"

"A mild disagreement," Sooyeon interjects, amused.

"Whatever." Tiffany airily waves her hand. "The point is that as Taeyeon's best friends we feel obligated to kick her forward and fix it because you make her really happy and Taeyeon never thinks she deserves to be happy because she's a nerd and gets like that, I guess."

"I hate you," Taeyeon mutters.

But somehow, Tiffany and Sooyoung pass her and give her the thumbs up, all the while telling Sooyeon things like "let's have lunch!" and hugging her even, as if she's already been adopted into their makeshift family despite not having some kind of accurate title in Taeyeon's life.

They're down the hall, gone in a flourish and Taeyeon finds herself shuffling forward, embarrassed and shy.

"I was thinking about camping outside your door," she says, mumbles really. She digs out a flyer for her next show, the first real show before her album is _actually_ released into the public spectrum. She thrusts the flyer forward. "I want you to come to this one ... if you want, I guess. But I want you there. I always want you there."

"Yah." Sooyeon's expression softens. "You really are an idiot."

In one, long step, Sooyeon steps foward and into her, wrapping an arm around her waist. They sort of melt together and Taeyeon is too relieved to be embarrassed, turning Sooyeon so that she's leaning against the wall and pulling her into a tight hug.

"I missed you too," Sooyeon says into her ear, her voice soft. "And I'm sorry I was kind of a bitch. It's just that --"

"No," Taeyeon interrupts. "You're always telling me how you feel and giving me what I need -- being more honest than I ever expect or know how to have. Letting me be selfish."

She melts, just a little, pulling back too. Her fingers brush against Sooyeon's face.

"I don't like not talking to you," she says.

The conversation is cut short though, Sooyeon's pager cutting between the two of them. Sooyeon sighs, pulling back just enough to read it and rub her eyes. She then points to her office, smiling shyly.

"Wait for me?"

Taeyeon nods. "Of course," she says.

Sooyeon leans in, brushing her mouth against her jaw and then hands her coffee over. Taeyeon leans against the wall then, watching her as she jogs down the hallway, her lab coat kicking behind her.

This isn't the place to do it, she thinks. 

 

 

 

An hour later, she finds a stack of post-its and a marker in one of Sooyeon's drawer. She stops, stares and studies the photos on her desk; there are the obligatory family photos, the brightest one and the one closest to the front is of Sooyeon and her sister -- Soojung, she remembers -- as two little girls, dressed in matching ribbons and sitting at a piano with shy, messy smiles. The one that surprises her though is a middle school photo, of the two of them; it was their first or second day, field hockey practice or something stupid like that. She remembers getting hurt and Sooyeon being elected captain, dragging Taeyeon behind her because she had to be on _her_ team and she wanted no one else.

It's then that she takes to the post-it, scribbling on the top one. She writes: _I love you_ and then underneath with a smile, she finishes: _it might be too fast, too soon, and everything else in between, but I love you -- forever too_. She peels off the top note, sticks it on their middle school picture and smiles at it, leaning back into the desk chair.

This isn't a dramatic moment. It's quiet. Sooyeon isn't even here to look over her shoulder or discover the note or say something sharp and silly, or call her out because this would be the way that she would tell her, of course. But it's still a moment and hits Taeyeon in the strangest of ways, separate from all the immediate, out of wack changes that have been happening, between her album, her band, and everything in between.

"You're an adult," she tells herself, out loud, and spots Sooyeon coming towards the office, in the glass windows. She stands immediately, pushing her chair in and grabbing the other woman's jacket and purse. She can find the note some other time, she thinks.

Taeyeon still keeps it simple: she grabs Sooyeon's lab coat as she enters the office, hangs over the back of her chair and drapes her other jacket behind her shoulders.

"Give me your keys," she tells Sooyeon. "You're tired and I'll drive."

Sooyeon laughs. "Sure, _sweetheart_."

Taeyeon snorts. "Don't get smart," she teases, wrapping her arm around her shoulders. Then she settles on holding her hand too.

It's something as simple as lacing their fingers together, as passing the nurse that let Taeyeon and the other girls in earlier, all smiles and with a good night because this is what you do when you leave together as couple, or something. It's something as silly as making sure Sooyeon gets into the car first and readjusting her seat when she gets into the driver's seat because her legs are longer than Sooyeon's.

She doesn't need much, Taeyeon thinks.

This is what real life feels like.

 

 

 

 

 

They talk, of course. Sooyeon comes to her show and Taeyeon introduces her to everyone without saying _this is my girlfriend_ even though everyone looks at her like it's implied and says stupid, stupid things like _finally_ and _of course, Kim Taeyeon would date a beautiful woman and have a hit record_ \-- Sooyeon wouldn't be Sooyeon without taking it in stride. Neither of them come out and say it though. There is no _we're dating_.

But one night, she can't sleep and she's at the piano. It's three o'clock and she's on her second bottle of water, messing with a few keys because there's a song there and sometimes it really sucks when she can't quite get it out.

"Can't sleep?"

Sooyeon appears from the bedroom. She steps around some of Sooyoung's leftover boxes, moving to sit next to Taeyeon at the bench. Her legs are bare and she stretches out next to Taeyeon, resting her knee against her thigh too.

"Nah," Taeyeon says. "I just have this melody, I guess."

Sooyeon nods, yawns, and stretches her hands out, brushing them over the keys. Taeyeon blinks, curious, and watches as her fingers curl and Sooyeon starts to play Mozart, all of the sudden, and the sound both seamless and crisp.

"You didn't tell me you played," she says, awed.

Sooyeon laughs softly. She meets Taeyeon's gaze, her eyes bright.

"You didn't tell me that you love me."

_Oh._

The post-it note comes back in a blush of a memory, half-forgotten because it feels like the universe is realigning itself anyway. Taeyeon's mouth opens and closes and Sooyeon keeps playing, watching her with a mix of amusement and warmth.

"I --"

"For someone who makes a living off of writing songs and words," Sooyeon teases, "finding the right thing to say shouldn't be this awkward."

Taeyeon groans, sighing. "I told you I was a mess though. I warned you, actually."

Sooyeon's hands pause on the keys. She leans in, sliding her mouth over Taeyeon's and kissing her firmly. She tastes soft, sweet like the ice cream they shared hours ago before bed. It feels like forever, of course, until Taeyeon finds her head, remembers to breathe, and starts kissing her back, her heart racing to the repetition of the words: _you love me_.

Against her mouth, Sooyeon starts to smile too. Her fingers slide against her thigh and she bites at her lip.

"I love you too, you idiot," she says and everything, there and then, stops moving. 

Taeyeon forgets to breathe.

"Going forward," Sooyeon continues, her forehead resting against Taeyeon's, "we need to work on you using your real words, you know?"

This is the best and worst about Sooyeon, the part that she loves the most -- and fiercely, Taeyeon will always say. She's sharp and honest and looks at Taeyeon like she's it, only it, and will forever be _it_ for her. She sees all Sooyeon's feelings explode onto her face and it's so overwhelming that Taeyeon can only lean forward and kiss her again and again, biting at her mouth, pushing at her to turn, face her, so that she can access more of her mouth and slide a hand underneath her t-shirt to touch her.

"I love you," Taeyeon says too, pulling Sooyeon's t-shirt over her head and tossing it onto the floor. "I love you for loving me, bumbling idiot and all. I love that you play Mozart and I really, really, really --"

" _Shut up_ ," Sooyeon laughs breathlessly and Taeyeon slides between her legs, leaning her back, right onto the piano bench. "You're so cheesy too."

She presses her mouth against Sooyeon's throat, biting at the skin. "You love it. So move in with me too," she manages, dragging her fingers against Sooyeon's thigh. "Since I'm learning to use my words and all."

"I can't even _deal_ with you," Sooyeon half-sighs, half-laughs and the way her mouth opens and sighs and moans is something that Taeyeon wants to make happen again.

They're a mess of limbs after that, on the piano and tangled -- she'll never look at her piano the same, after all. But having Sooyeon there, watching her under her hands and mouth and the way she withers and twists and says _taeyeon_ over and over again makes stupid fights and post-its and the backwards way this has been worth it and without any regrets.

Sooyeon says yes. Of course.


End file.
